Horse in Chinese / Japanese...

馬 is the character for horse in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese.

If you were born in the year of the horse, you . . .


Are outgoing and active.
Don't give up easily.
Are known to have a bad temper.

See also our Chinese Zodiac page.

火馬 is the title, "Fire Horse".

火馬 is not a common title for calligraphy. You might be looking for 丙午, 43rd year of the sexagenary cycle (year of the Fire Horse, renowned for disasters and the birth of women destined to kill their husbands).

飛龍馬 is the title for a "flying dragon-horse".

This can refer to a mythical beast, or more realistically, a very fast horse at the track.

龍馬精神 is an old proverb that is used to wish someone good health and success combined as a great compliment.

The meaning is "The vigor and spirit of the legendary dragon-horse". These four characters are often accompanied by four more which mean, "...and the power and prestige of the tiger". Here we are just offering the first part which is considered the short version.

By giving a wall scroll like this to someone, you were either wishing or telling them that they have an amazing quality. There is also a suggestion of good health - at least anyone with the vigor of a dragon horse, would seem to also be in good health.

Note: In Japanese, this would be read as the spirit of 坂本龍馬 (Sakamoto_Ryōma), a beloved rebel who help abolish the old Japanese feudal system. This can be confusing, so I am declaring this proverb to be Chinese only.

龍馬精神虎虎生威 is an old proverb that is used to wish someone great health and success combined as a great compliment.

The meaning is "The vigor and spirit of the legendary dragon-horse, and the power and prestige of the tiger".

By giving a wall scroll like this to someone, you were either wishing or telling them that they have these qualities. There is also a suggestion of good health - at least anyone with the vigor of a dragon horse, would seem to also be in good health.

This literally means, "green plums and hobby-horse".

Figuratively, it means, "innocent children's games", "childhood sweethearts", or "a couple who grew up as childhood friends".

This phrase may sound a little strange as it's a kind of Chinese proverb or idiom. It makes much more sense in Chinese than English.

The first character has the element of "horse" in it, and alone can mean "one who rides".

Together, these characters can be translated as "riding soldier" or "horseman soldier", which of course can also be translated as "knight".

Can also be translated as "cavalier."

See Also:  Warrior

小馬 is the word for colt in Chinese.

The literal meaning is a small or young horse.

野馬 is the Chinese title for a mustang.

The first character can mean wild, free-roaming, or feral.
The second character means horse.

斑馬 is how to write zebra in Chinese. It will also be understood in Japanese, though they tend to write zebra as シマウマ in Katakana in Japan these days.

The actual meaning of the characters is something like "speckled horse".

赤鬼 is the title of the red-horned demon or red ogre.

In the Buddhist context, these are the red demons of purgatory. These demons are unique, as one will have the head of a bull, another with that of a horse, etc.

獨角獸 is the Chinese name for the western unicorn (a horse with a spiral horn emerging from the head).

獨角獸 is an unusual title for a Chinese wall scroll but it's OK if you really love unicorns.

Chinese have their own ancient unicorn-like creature called a "qilin" (or kirin in Japanese).

一角獣 is the Japanese name for the western unicorn (a horse with a spiral horn emerging from the head). This can also refer to a narwhal depending on context.

一角獣 is an unusual title for a Japanese wall scroll but it's OK if you really love unicorns.

Japanese have their own ancient unicorn-like creature called a "kirin" (or qilin in the original Chinese).

馬球 is the Chinese title of the ancient game of polo.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the elite and rich would mount their horses and engage in this rigorous sport. It is the only sport of that period where women were also known to play.

The original polo came from Persia and may have been played in China hundreds of years before the Tang popularized it.

The characters "馬球" literally mean "horse ball".

花木蘭 is the name of the famous Chinese woman warrior Hua Mulan.

She was made famous in the west by Disney's animated movie, "Mulan".

Most of the historical information about her comes from an ancient poem. It starts with a concerned Mulan, as she is told a man from each family is to serve conscription in the army. Her father is too old, and her brother is too young. Mulan decides to take the place of her father. After twelve years of war, the army returns and the best warriors are awarded great posts in the government and riches. Mulan turns down all offers, and asks only for a good horse for the long trip home. When Mulan greets visiting comrades wearing her old clothes, they are shocked to find the warrior they rode into battle with for years was actually a woman.

麒麟 is the title of a mythical beast of Asia.

The animal is thought to be related to the giraffe, and in some ways, it is a giraffe. However, it is often depicted with the horns of a dragon or deer and sometimes with the body like a horse but many variations exist.

In Japanese it is pronounced "Kirin" as in "Kirin Ichiban" beer.


Notes:

1. 麒麟 is sometimes spelled as "kylin".

2. In Japanese, this is the only Kanji word for giraffe. Therefore in Japan, this word needs context to know whether you are talking about the mythical creature or the long-necked giraffe of Africa.

3. Apparently, this was the first word used for regular giraffes in China (some were brought from Africa to China during the Ming Dynasty - probably around the year 1400). Though the mythical creature may have existed before, the name "qilin" was given to the "new giraffe". 麒麟 is because, more than 600 years ago, giraffes somewhat matched the mythical creature's description when Chinese people saw them for the first time. Later, to avoid such an ambiguous title, a three-character word was devised to mean a "giraffe of Africa". The characters for "qilin" shown here are only for the mythological version in modern Chinese.

4. More information about the qilin / kirin from Wikipedia.

5. This creature is sometimes translated as the "Chinese Unicorn", even though it is generally portrayed with two horns. I think this is done more for the fantasy aspect of the unicorn and because most westerners don't know what a qilin or kirin is (this avoids a long explanation by the translator).

6. In Korean, this can mean kirin or simply giraffe (usually the mythological creature is what they would think of when seeing these characters alone on a wall scroll).

During the Tang Dynasty, a man named Jia Dao (born in the year 779), a well studied scholar and poet, went to the capital to take the imperial examination.

One day as he rides a donkey through the city streets, a poem begins to form in his mind. A portion of the poem comes into his head like this:

"The bird sits on the tree branch near a pond,
A monk approaches and knocks at the gate..".

At the same time, he wondered if the word "push" would be better than "knock" in his poem.

As he rides down the street, he imagines the monk pushing or knocking. Soon he finds himself making motions of pushing, and shaking a fist in a knocking motion as he debates which word to use. He is quite a sight as he makes his way down the street on his donkey with hands and fists flying about as the internal debate continues.

As he amuses people along the street, he becomes completely lost in his thoughts and does not see the mayor's procession coming in the opposite direction. Jia Bao is blocking the way for the procession to continue down the road, and the mayor's guards immediately decide to remove Jia Bao by force. Jia Bao, not realizing that he was in the way, apologizes, explains his poetic dilemma, and awaits his punishment for blocking the mayor's way.

The mayor, Han Yu, a scholar and author of prose himself, finds himself intrigued by Jia Dao's poem and problem. Han Yu gets off his horse, and addresses Jia Bao, stating, "I think knock is better". The relieved Jia Bao raises his head, and is invited by the mayor to join the procession, and are seen riding off together down the street exchanging their ideas and love of poetry.

In modern Chinese, this idiom is used when someone is trying to decide which word to use in their writing or when struggling to decide between two things when neither seems to have a downside.